'Black Nativity' has Kansas ties

I received a call the other day from arts advocate and former Topeka resident Don Lambert. He was telling me that he thought the new movie "Black Nativity" was based on a story by poet Langston Hughes, but he didn't know the story’s name.

I haven't seen the movie and hadn’t heard anything about the Langston Hughes connection (sorry, if I'm lagging behind the rest of you), but I was certainly curious enough to go searching on the Internet. I discovered that the movie is based on the gospel-music oratorio "Wasn't It a Mighty Day?" that was written by Hughes and first performed off-Broadway in December 1961. Dancer-choreographer Alvin Ailey was among the original cast.

According to a National Public Radio report, Hughes' play paired the Christian nativity story with traditional spirituals and African drumming. Kasi Lemmons, director of the new film version, has reframed Hughes' storyline and added some new songs composed by producer-performer Raphael Saadiq.

The movie stars Jacob Latimore as Langston; Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett as the Rev. Cornell and Aretha Cobbs, his estranged relatives; and Jennifer Hudson as Naima, Langston's mother.

Hughes was born in Joplin, Mo., but spent most of his childhood living with his grandmother, Mary Patterson Langston, in Lawrence. He attended first grade in Topeka, where he lived for a short time with his mother.

If you know of a person, event or topic pertaining to northeast Kansas that might be of interest to our readers, please let me know. You can call me at (785) 295-1292, email me at jan.biles@cjonline or post to my Capital-Journal-related Facebook page.